If the answer is yes, you should probably be investigating data center infrastructure management (DCIM).

And I have good news. Today, HP announced new services to help organizations plan, design, integrate and implement end-to-end DCIM and IT service management (ITSM) solutions. With these breakthrough offerings, we can help you achieve better operational efficiency, capacity planning and intelligence sharing across IT infrastructure, data center facilities and IT service management.

Here’s why this is such a big deal. Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a huge advocate for what I’ve called the next level of convergence – capitalizing on the efficiencies that can result from bringing a whole range of currently siloed domains, including IT infrastructure (server, storage, networks), facilities and service delivery, into an integrated management model (see my blogs on converging the data center for a hybrid future and the converged data center – solving a system of problems). The ideal data center for today’s IT would be one that’s tailored to meet the needs of cloud, big data and mobility. And it should operate with all the harmony and perfect timing of an orchestra. When the business, IT and facilities are truly working in concert, real operational convergence and alignment can be achieved.

Unfortunately, the reality is that many data centers today are still managed using siloed tools, siloed teams and disjointed processes. This contributes to unreliable intelligence, which hinders strategic planning and inflates the cost of data center operations.

DCIM solutions have recently emerged as a way to address the gap between IT and facility management and provide high-level oversight of the entire data center. It’s a market poised for growth; demand among enterprises is increasing. In its Worldwide Datacenter Predictions for 2014, IDC predicts that “2014 is the year of DCIM…as a service,” adding that new enterprise data center builds will include DCIM integrations.

At the same time, choosing and implementing a DCIM solution can be challenging because of market fragmentation; an overabundance of tools, technologies and vendors; and, too often, a lack of proper planning. What’s more, most organizations’ in-house data center teams lack the unique mix of IT, facility and service management expertise that’s needed to understand both DCIM’s potential and the current gaps between crucial data center functions – not to mention expertise on how to adapt ITSM best practices to business needs and how to integrate data center resources into broader enterprise management systems.

The new HP Converged Management Consulting Services, announced today, can help your organization break free from barriers to adoption and begin harnessing the benefits of DCIM. Now you can gain access to senior HP ITSM, IT infrastructure and facility experts—all of whom work together as one team, leveraging our unique services methodology.

Our experts use HP’s Converged Management Framework, which helps you to connect business goals, organization, management tools and operational processes in a structured way. It also includes a comprehensive set of technical requirements, organizational templates and best practice processes that enable speedy gap analysis. The result is a program plan to get you to your strategic converged management vision quickly. HP partners with the top DCIM vendors to create flexible solutions aligned to your unique business needs.

The services announced today are:

HP Converged Management Workshop, which promotes alignment and shared vision between key IT, facility and operations decision-makers through highly interactive and visual facilitation on key DCIM topics. Real-world use-cases and industry best practices give you a comprehensive view of key converged management topics and DCIM technologies, including IT infrastructure, facility management, automation and service management. The Workshop helps you build your converged management vision and strategy.

HP Converged Management Roadmap Service, which enables you to align current and future business needs by analyzing your IT and facilities processes and capabilities to identify gaps and lay out short- and long-term activity plans.

HP Converged Management Design Service, which ensures an open infrastructure and flexible solution design that communicates with all the elements of the data center and broader enterprise management systems.

HP Converged Management Implementation Services, which help you speed time-to-market and simplify multi-vendor migration with well-managed deployment and operational guidelines. In addition, these services assist your organization with the implementation and integration of the HP Converged Infrastructure portfolio, including HP OneView, our innovative infrastructure management platform; HP Software; and solutions from top DCIM partners.

HP puts you on the fast track to DCIM in a way that no other vendor can match. While Cisco, for example, is buying its way into the IT energy management market with its recent acquisition of JouleX, HP already offers a complete line-up of energy management solutions. HP OneView, released last year, offers infrastructure management capabilities that Cisco’s UCS Manager doesn’t come close to matching (for a look at the differences, check out this short video). Dell and IBM, too, are still playing catch-up in DCIM, with a recent round of acquisitions and partnership deals.

Building on over 20 years of data center transformation experience and HP’s leading Converged Infrastructure vision, the HP Converged Management Framework and our HP experts can help you bridge the gap between heterogeneous IT systems, data center facilities and service management, bringing control of all the various technologies under one umbrella.

With HP as a trusted partner, you can call on our broad product portfolio, deep knowledge of DCIM, and ITIL expertise to accelerate your journey to the data center of the future.